Your TR Source
Mr. Eddy will be leaving his position at St. Petersburg, Russia and President Roosevelt would like to appoint Mr. Jay as first secretary.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-01
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt tells James Harrison Wilson of his conversation with President William McKinley asking if he thought Wilson would be a good candidate for China. McKinley is seriously considering appointing Wilson and Roosevelt hopes he will accept. Roosevelt recently saw Ambassador Ethan Allen Hitchcock and thinks he would accept advice from Wilson so that Pekin, China and Saint Petersburg, Russia will work together.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-09-15
Ambassador Reid seeks Theodore Roosevelt’s direction as to whether William H. Taft will stop by London on his way back from the Philippines, seeing as he will already be stopping at St. Petersburg and Berlin. If so, Reid will arrange some visits for Taft with British dignitaries. Reid also encloses some news clippings from British publications discussing American political affairs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-10
Ambassador Meyer writes to President Roosevelt regarding Basil Miles, the new secretary to the American embassy in St. Petersburg. Meyer also mentions that he is sending a private letter to Roosevelt regarding Order 165.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-17
Ambassador Meyer explains in a memorandum that the Admiralty are laying down two battleships to be built in Russia. Meyer learned in a conversation with a Russian Admiral that they had begun building the ships since if they had waited until March it would have meant paying off 20,000 workmen and causing great unemployment. Meyer learned from another source that the plan was to have a fleet of four battleships and an English Company is offering to build a ship with ten or twelve 12-inch guns with speed similar to the “Dreadnought.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-06
Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace has given Ambassador Reid a package from Ambassador George von Lengerke Meyer for President Roosevelt, which Reid has enclosed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-29
Ambassador Meyer is reporting to President Roosevelt the state of affairs in Russia after having found St. Petersburg quiet. Meyer traveled throughout Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine. The letter examines the situations in many different cities and other topics including removing Jews from Russia, revolution and revolutionaries’ tactics, a pheasant shoot, military escorts, history, travel, and Russian construction quality.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-28
George von Lengerke Meyer recounts a series of telegrams sent back and forth regarding his requesting permission to take an after-cure in the mountains to help with his illness. If needed, he will return immediately; otherwise he will remain in Russia until Roosevelt calls on him. Meyer likens Russian’s prejudices against Jews to that of Benjamin R. Tillman’s views on the rights of African Americans. He thinks the next Duma will be radical and that the current quiet in Russia might not last.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-21
Acting Secretary of State Adee informs William Loeb of telegram exchanges between Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon and Ambassador George von Lengerke Meyer. The exchanges indicate that even before a telegram was sent to Meyer expressing President Roosevelt’s wishes for him to travel to St. Petersburg as soon as his health would permit, Meyer was en route from Kissingen, Germany, to St. Petersburg, Russia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-16
Ambassador Meyer tells President Roosevelt he has not received an answer from the department, which is assumedly the Department of State. Meyer asks Roosevelt to wire him if he consents to his “taking after cure now and returning to [St.] Petersburg September 30.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-14
Ambassador Meyer agrees with everything President Roosevelt said in his letter and appreciates the opportunity to be in St. Petersburg during the peace negotiations. Meyer is honored to join Roosevelt’s cabinet next winter. Meyer discusses conditions in Russia he has witnessed like Russians living conditions, their oppression, their lack of education, and the difficulty the Socialists or Anarchists will have in convincing the people that the Tsar is not “their little Father.” Meyer expresses his concern that the Revolutionists want everything at once and that none among them is a stand out leader. Meyer discusses the progress of his cure in Bavaria but assures Roosevelt that he is ready to return to St. Petersburg at a moment’s notice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-02
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon writes to Ambassador George von Lengerke Meyer about the situation in Russia. The blame for the instability of the Duma should be evenly distributed between Tsar Nicholas II and his advisors. Bacon believed actual action and sacrifices mean more than words and sees the need for the formation of a constitutional government and a route out of bankruptcy as Russia’s highest concerns. The government is suppressing the distribution of the new Viborg Manifesto, created by former Dumas members.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-28
George von Lengerke Meyer writes to President Roosevelt to update him on the state of the Algeciras Conference. Roosevelt is being asked by all parties to act as arbiter for this event. Finally Meyer concludes his letter with a comment about campaign spending and the idea of Congress setting aside a specific amount to be split between the parties.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-03-01
Cecil Spring Rice thanks Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt for a book of poems and describes his work in St. Petersburg and the state of Russia at the time.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-04
Ambassador Meyer writes to President Roosevelt comparing the situation in Russia to events in France during the French Revolution. Meyer goes into detail about the current political crisis in Russia, mentioning the need for reform, the need for improved conditions for the military, and the public opinion of the czar. Meyer describes the shutting down of newspaper offices, the imprisonment of editors, and strikes that could take place. He suggests that an American military attache could be of great help to him, as communication and media in St. Petersburg are not reliable.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
Ambassador Meyer writes to President Roosevelt regarding Meyer’s discussion of the Russian situation with French official Maurice Rouvier. Meyer mentions that Rouvier is concerned about the impact of the Russian securities downfall on France’s financial situation, yet German official Bernhard Bülow has a more positive outlook. Next, Meyer describes his dinner meeting with Emperor William II who commented on Roosevelt’s cablegram messages, remarks, and stance regarding a tariff and treaty. Meyer then goes into detail about Russian strikes and the potential plans for deploying Russian Cossack troops to help keep things in order.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-06
Cecil Spring Rice provides Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt with a detailed synopsis of the ongoing turmoil in Russia, including student demonstrations, labor strikes, and violent police reprisals. Spring Rice believes Roosevelt has seen accounts of the “inconceivable brutality” of the attacks on students and Jews, and that the “accounts are not exaggerated.” He believes the army is the only organized force left in Russia but wonders how long it will last. Spring Rice believes that no one either trusts or likes Sergei Vitte or his government and due to all the uncertainty “the forces of anarchy flourish.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-27
Cecil Spring Rice is sending some Russian illustrated storybooks and will send the translations later. He tells one of the stories, and he wants President Roosevelt’s reaction to a story about a wolf. Spring Rice is writing from St. Petersburg where he is an English diplomat. He describes the guns from Peter and Paul Fortress booming the day before, to warn people living underground to get out because of a storm and the Neva River flooding.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-25
Ambassador Meyer received President Roosevelt’s telegram about going to Saint Petersburg and answered that he would like to wait as his daughter just had an appendectomy. Meyer would also like to see Roosevelt and Secretary of State Elihu Root before he departs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-07
Richard V. Oulahan of the New York Sun writes to William Loeb to discuss a fellow newspaper man, simply referred to as “Richard,” who has apparently been accused of writing a false interview with President Roosevelt. Oulahan suspects that “Richard,” whom he met at the Portsmouth Peace Conference and does not speak English, was tricked by a translator into believing Roosevelt had given him an on-the-record comment. Oulahan and his British colleague Otto von Gottberg believe “Richard” to be an honorable man, and Oulahan hopes Loeb and Roosevelt might look into the matter so that “Richard” may be absolved of the accusation of breaching journalistic integrity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-17